Addled Jim wrote:Hi

I checked the book and recipe was same as I input. What doesn't look right - is there not enough grain for final ABV 0f 4.6% or is there too much hops? There are no numbers for colour or bitterness of finished beer - the only clue is its a Pale Ale
I would prefer to keep the alcohol to around the 4.6% volume or lower - is this one coming in much lower then? - has this recipe been printed incorrectly - its from the Marks & Spencer Ultimate Homebrew Book?
Thanks,

Hi, I was hoping you would see the clue I gave you when I referenced the 5 and 6 gallon target volumes in the original recipe. If you change the value in Section D to 22.75L and 19L in Section B, that will closely approximate the original recipe. The BIABacus is using formulas, such as, evaporation rate and grain absorption that differs from the orignal, not to mention a different efficency rate.

The recipe in the book is what is called 'a low integrity recipe' because it doesn't provide all the information, e.g. IBU (AA%,mins.,grams), COLORS, ETC.

This is calling for another pound of grain, if you brew this one you will end up with a great beer.

I noticed the posted file was a .xlsx, in the future 'save as' an .xls
~richard cheers

Hi there Addled Jim,

This recipe had me intrigued. As Richard mentioned a few posts ago the weights in the original recipe were definitely wrong. Managed to get a Look Inside the book and the same error is in all the recipes.

For example, there is a recipe I saw called Pater’s beer that has an OG of 1.085 but only uses approx 5 kgs of grain to make 23 litres of what we are guessing is the end of boil volume once cooled, EOBV-A. This is impossible.

The only thing that makes sense is if the weights they used referred to extract not grain. If this is the case, then the numbers do add up. Just when I though I'd seen everything .

As Richard said, the lack of information on IBU’s, colour etc also further lowers the integrity of the recipes.

On the positive side, we can get too worried about these things. I think that if you use the grain and hop weights on the right hand side of Sections C and D you will end up with a good drink.

In the file below I have moved the 1.049 to the left side of Section C. Now you will see that the right hand side of the hop section is populated . Everything else you have done is great especially given the low integrity of the original recipe.

The book has some nice pics though .


PP

The file I attached is exactly the same as yours Jim except with the 1.049 moved.

I think what Mad-Scientist was trying to do was to see if he could make sense of the original recipe as he didn't have the advantage of looking inside the book.

In Section B, you always put in how much beer you personally want to get into your fermentor. I am assuming you do want to get 23 L into your fermentor so you shouldn't change this. Also leave the 23 L in Section B as it's as good a guess as any from looking at the book as to what their EOBV-A is. (To tell you the truth, I think that their 23 L means into the fermentor so their EOBV-A would be a bit higher, 25.5 L would probably be the best number to put in for EOBV-A.)

Even though the book weights are obviously wrong, the ratios of the grains look fine and that is what the 'left hand side' of the BIABacus really looks at. On the hop side of this recipe, we are really flying pretty blind though so...

Good idea on the bin . (Keep the book, you might get some good ideas out of it down the track). Brewing Classic Styles by John Palmer and Zamil Zainasheff is the best bet for recipes I reckon. They are high integrity recipes and you can scale them in the BIABacus in two seconds so consider buying that one.

Cheers,
PP

Yeah, it was left up to the imagination of the brewer what the volume line in the original recipe means. I interpreted it as 6G EOBV-A and 5G VIF, which more closely matched up with the grain.

Addled Jim and PP;

The clues are in the book on pages 26 - 29.

Addled Jim, Now after reading some of the book, from the link PP provided, I have come to realize that 5 British gallons equals 6 US gallons. I was confused by that point. Lesson learned...
~richard

Lol! I think those were clues that the book needs to be ignored . I'm actually still in shock at this book. Although nearly every single recipe book or software recipe report is faulted, this book takes the cake.

I would throw it in the bin Jim especially if you want it for the very high gravity beers that include sugars because they will be impossible to make sense of.

Btw, squared has just bumped this thread which has some links to some of John and Jamil's recipes online. To convert those recipes, all you have to do is type 22.7 L into the EOBV-A field of Section D in the BIABacus.

I still highly recommend buying the book though. It's the only one around on recipes I know of that actually gives you all the correct information needed to copy the recipe easily.

I have an AG full volume mash recipe in BIABacus with and EOBV-A of 42L and I want to add Dextrose 1kg to up the ABV, probably add it to the boil for sanitisation reasons (would that work?). How and where would I enter that into the BIABacus please? Does anyone know of a link here on entering sugars into BIABacus? Thanks.

GuingesRock wrote:I have an AG full volume mash recipe in BIABacus with and EOBV-A of 42L and I want to add Dextrose 1kg to up the ABV, probably add it to the boil for sanitisation reasons (would that work?). How and where would I enter that into the BIABacus please? Does anyone know of a link here on entering sugars into BIABacus? Thanks.

Hey GR, PP recently posted this reply for mtate75;
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=286&start=1150#p29623
See if you can get through this, if you have further questions, post up again with your file, maybe...
~richard

Hi MS, I was hoping you would chip in. Thanks!

I figured out a way to get the ABV I wanted by using pellet hops, instead of leaf, and reducing the VIF. The figures on the left are actual figures from a MAXI BIAB FRM fermented in the kettle brew that I did, and the ones on the right are for a planned full volume FRM mash fermented in the kettle. It has 1lb of Cascade all thrown in to a first wort hop with no other additions. It is also at 10C and barely carbonated.

The efficiency figures and attenuation figures are also from the previous FRM/fermented in kettle brew.

I would still be interested in what would happen to the ABV if I threw in a KG of sugar.

By the way, this beer is beautiful. We were just sitting outside in the sun and my wife on her first few sips (she wasn’t drunk ) said “not only is this the best beer you’ve made, it’s the best beer I have ever had” I was inclined to agree with her. It has been in the keg for 4 days after a 10 day ferment.

I’ll have a look at the link you gave and try to figure it out. I remember reading that and found it complicated.

Here's the file. I probably made some mistakes but you guys will have fun tearing it apart

GuingesRock wrote: I would still be interested in what would happen to the ABV if I threw in a KG of sugar.

Hi GR, been looking at your recipe. If you use 2.21 pounds (1 kg) of sugar at 46.2 points per pound per gallon, that's 46.2 * 2.21 = 102 gravity points will be contributed to the brew by the corn sugar. Your EOBV is 10.85 G and 1.070/0 is the EOBG.

I took the 102 (points/pound/gallon) ppg and divided it by 10.85 gallons to get 9.4 gravity points you can add to the EOBG estimated gravity, so 1.070/0 plus 9.4 equals 1.079/4.

Add the sugar near the end, like 15 mins. before flame out.

Thanks very much MS. That’s really interesting. Thanks also for letting me know when to add the sugar. Now you mention it I remember reading that somewhere

I’m guessing adding a pound of sugar or 500g would have roughly the same effect on any 5 gallon brew (or 2lbs/1kg in a 10 Gal brew).

Thanks again for taking the time to do that.

Have a good evening.

Your Maxi-Biab adjustments are in section "W" of the biabacus. Have a go and post the file if you get stuck..

That's looking good Tsar, I'm a bit rusty as I haven't picked up a mash paddle for a while but there is no glaring errors as far as I can see.

Sorry but I can't help with the round bottom thing, one for the keggle boys or PP. I will search the forum later though if no one jumps in with an answer. (procrastinating at the moment, should get back to work.)



Yeasty

I'm a bit stuck for time as well but the file looks great Tsar.

Your volume into Kettle (VIK) is a bit high for comfort. There is usually a warning for this but PR 1.3 is missing it. I would put 5 L into 'Water Added Before the Boil' and 5 l into 'Water Added During Boil'.

As for dealing with a kettle with a rounded bottom, have a read of this post.

Nice job Tsar

What brand is your "generic" malt?

Tsar, Are you close to one of those 2 home brew shops? Brewferm has a line of 26 kinds of malts. The shop should carry or be able to order what you need.